I've been burned by M$ too many times. I'd rather work with technologies driven by coders than marketers.
I understand this very well. I was a Windows' programmer up until about a year and a half ago. Every time somebody installed a new version of Office, my host connectivity middleware wouldn't work any more! Of course, debugging on my machine never yeilded any problems - since I refused to install Office for at least 4 years.
What I finally did was to get my project converted to Java - then I would work on my FreeBSD partition for development, and only use Windows for testing. I've now got somebody else to do the Windows' testing, so I'm free to just develop on FreeBSD and/or Linux.
What's more, since switching to FreeBSD (and Linux) full time, I've felt like my mind has been coming out of a coma. Double clicking and dragging and dropping are fine for some things. But coding requires a keyboard. Vi doesn't take my hands far from the home keys, which couldn't be avoided with VC--. Shell scripts, makefiles, etc. All of those wonderful utilities I used to use back in college that save time when used well, slowly came back to me. I was able to think again!
I used to be the "answer man" for any kind of problem with Windows - since I'd probably had it and figured out a work around. Now, I tell them, "I don't do Windows."
Re:It's logical to go to space
on
On to Mars
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· Score: 1
While I don't have a memory of seeing the event live, I was at least in training pants about the time of the moon shot. So, while I'm not so young any more (33), should a call for pioneers come up, I'll be one of the first to raise my hand. Sure, I'll probably have to get into shape and learn some sort of new skill to be useful, but I'll do it! The prospect of immigrating to Mars would be plenty of incentive to shed some kilograms!
I'de read practically everything from Clark and Asimov about a decade ago, and continued hungering for more. I want to experience it! I don't care if the first manned mission to Mars is doomed from the start, I'll go.
It's bothered me for a long time that we don't have a base on the moon or Mars yet. I watch as many space related specials on TV as I can catch, and often wonder why they never mention any "real" (acceptable) reason why we're dead in the water (or should I say, stranded on dry land?). This article, and thread, has brought back a lot of that lust for pioneering that I felt long ago. And I find that it hasn't died away with time. On the contrary, the older I get, the more impatient I become, knowing that there'll come a time when I won't be able to get this aging body into phisical enough shape for such a journey.
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I understand this very well. I was a Windows' programmer up until about a year and a half ago. Every time somebody installed a new version of Office, my host connectivity middleware wouldn't work any more! Of course, debugging on my machine never yeilded any problems - since I refused to install Office for at least 4 years.
What I finally did was to get my project converted to Java - then I would work on my FreeBSD partition for development, and only use Windows for testing. I've now got somebody else to do the Windows' testing, so I'm free to just develop on FreeBSD and/or Linux.
What's more, since switching to FreeBSD (and Linux) full time, I've felt like my mind has been coming out of a coma. Double clicking and dragging and dropping are fine for some things. But coding requires a keyboard. Vi doesn't take my hands far from the home keys, which couldn't be avoided with VC--. Shell scripts, makefiles, etc. All of those wonderful utilities I used to use back in college that save time when used well, slowly came back to me. I was able to think again!
I used to be the "answer man" for any kind of problem with Windows - since I'd probably had it and figured out a work around. Now, I tell them, "I don't do Windows."
I'de read practically everything from Clark and Asimov about a decade ago, and continued hungering for more. I want to experience it! I don't care if the first manned mission to Mars is doomed from the start, I'll go.
It's bothered me for a long time that we don't have a base on the moon or Mars yet. I watch as many space related specials on TV as I can catch, and often wonder why they never mention any "real" (acceptable) reason why we're dead in the water (or should I say, stranded on dry land?). This article, and thread, has brought back a lot of that lust for pioneering that I felt long ago. And I find that it hasn't died away with time. On the contrary, the older I get, the more impatient I become, knowing that there'll come a time when I won't be able to get this aging body into phisical enough shape for such a journey.